Last night, Chabad of Louisiana successfully completed a campaign to raise $120,000. Over 200 friends of Chabad of Louisiana participated. We are extremely grateful for and humbled by the outpouring of support. We are honored by the trust you have placed in us for the last 50 years of service to the community. This campaign jumpstarts our vision for the next 50 years and beyond. Together, with you as our partners, we look forward to impacting the lives of many in the community in a meaningful way.
If you did not have a chance to participate and would like to do, please visit www.chabadneworleans.com/
In this week’s Parsha we spend time with Noach, the famous ark builder, who survived the great flood. Noach seems to have an identity crisis. On one hand, the Torah describes him as a Tzadik – a righteous man. On the other hand, the Torah adds a qualifier to the superlative, “in his generation.” Rashi comments that this qualifier is the subject of controversy amongst the sages. Some see it as enhancing the compliment, Noach managed to stay righteous even while operating in a highly corrupt society. While others see the qualifier as a criticism; he was righteous only relative to his counterparts, but had he lived in the time of Avraham, for example, he would not be as highly regarded. Avraham managed to influence tens of thousands to embrace a monotheistic moral life, whereas Noach could not convince even one neighbor to repent and reject the corruption and immorality of the time.
In practical application, both approaches are instructive to us, the readers of this narrative 4,500 years later. On one hand, it encourages us to resist negative societal trends, like Noach who was righteous even in a corrupt society. On the other hand, he is criticized for his lack of devotion to others, so that we learn from this to emulate Avraham and his manner of influencing his environment.
We find a similar conflict over a phrase in the Haftara, where G-d proclaims to Isaiah, “I swore that the waters of Noah shall never again pass over the earth.” Why are the flood waters called the waters of Noach? After all, he was the one guy who was good enough to survive.
The Rebbe offers conflicting interpretations. On one hand, success and failure are blamed on the “quarterback” of the society. True Noach was not corrupt, but his inability to have a positive influence resulted in the destructive floodwaters being named for him.
On the other hand, the phrase “waters of Noach” indicates that the purpose of the water was not merely destruction. (G-d could have found much easier ways to destroy the world. He could have just thrown it into perpetual election cycles…) Rather the waters of Noach served a positive purpose. They cleansed the universe from all the corruption like a Mikvah cleanses impurity. This is the significance of the 40 days of rain, a parallel to the 40 “Seah” (a liquid measurement) of water required to make a Mikvah valid. The post-flood world was more refined and receptive to the idea of Teshuvah.
Practically, these two, seemingly conflicting interpretations are not mutually exclusive. The first teaches us something about personal responsibility. If you are the “quarterback” take responsibility for the loss. Don’t blame the receivers or the blockers. Better yet, make sure you don’t lose to begin with. The second tells us about finding goodness and positivity in every situation.
We are all faced with similar conflicts in life. We read the Torah and learn the lessons, becoming more informed and better equipped to translate those lessons into successful living.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin